For the last three months, our charity partner Girls from Oz (g-oz) has been working hard to fundraise $40,000 through their annual Giving Circles campaign. We are thrilled to share the news that g-oz not only reached their goal, but exceeded it by over $10,000!

Giving Circles harness the power of collective giving; individuals band together and donate their money into a larger pool. While an individual might only be able to donate $10, a group of 10 people doing the same thing will come together to make a donation of $100. One of the most important aspects of Giving Circles is that they’re not designed to be a one off campaign; the intention is for the circles to be maintained, nurtured and grown to ensure the strength and stability of the organisation.

In 2015 g-oz began using Giving Circles to raise money for their programs. They aimed for $25,000 and received donations in excess of $36,000. In 2016, they raised the fundraising target to $30,000 and ended up raising over $40,000.

This year 28 enthusiastic Giving Circle Coordinators rallied friends and colleagues, hosted fundraising events and brainstormed innovate ways to reach the $40,000 fundraising target. By the end of the campaign a total of $51,450.15 was raised as well as $20,000 in matched funding through private sources, for a grand total of $71,450.15.

We were humbled to see so many donations from the AGC community, particularly from our senior choristers. In each of the five Performing Choirs, our most senior level, the choristers elect two g-oz Community Leaders. These girls work with the girls in their state to develop and execute creative fundraising activities in support g-oz. We were blown away by the creativity and generosity of our Camerata and Performing choristers who managed to raise $4,745.540 nationally. Some other wonderful examples of AGC community engagement include but are limited to:

Charlotte Newey, an 11 year old chorister in Sydney, rallied the support of her primary school student representative council and raised over $200 for g-oz at a school cake stall.

Mary Pilkinton, a g-oz Community Leader in Sydney, held a fundraising event at her high school and raised over $600.

Two AGC Perth parents Debbie Cooper and Hilda Srhoy held a variety of fundraising events and raised over $1,700.

A total of exactly $5,000 raised by the Giving Circle of AGC alumni and former AGC Tutor Michelle Chow.

Donations in excess of $1,300 made by various AGC alumni.

Girls from Oz is the charity partner of the Australian Girls Choir. They provide innovative, high quality performing arts education programs to young people who might otherwise be unable to access those experiences due to economic, geographic or residential limitations. Their current programs are focused on engaging Indigenous girls and young women from the remote towns of Halls Creek and Carnarvon in Western Australia and Lockhart River in Far North Queensland.